Case Number 01521

IMAX: DESTINY IN SPACE

The Charge

Prepare to explore the universe.

Opening Statement

Everyone loves the IMAX! What is IMAX, you ask? It's a really big theater
with a movie screen the size of a football field (give or take a few yards).
Once in a while regular Hollywood films are shown at the IMAX (I remember
thrilling to Jurassic Park years ago at an IMAX theater), but more often
than not they are movies with educational themes, such as space exploration,
oceanic history, or mountain climbing. IMAX: Destiny In Space is about --
duh -- outer space. Warner shoots us into the stratosphere with the DVD IMAX:
Destiny In Space narrated by Leonard "Spock" Nimoy.

Facts of the Case

Once again, the back of the DVD case sums up this film better than I can.

"IMAX: Destiny In Space is a tribute to the spirit of our
continuing exploration of the solar system. Board a satellite in space to look
back upon the shuttle orbiting earth. Join astronauts to deploy and repair the
Hubble Telescope. Travel millions of miles to space above the remarkable
contours of Venus and Mars. Finally, find astonishing proof of new planets, and
with them the possibility of other life forming around distant stars!"

The Evidence

IMAX: Destiny In Space should pander to the child in all of us. Who
among you didn't dream of reaching the furthest ends of the galaxy when you were
a child? For those of us who grew up in the heyday of Star Wars,
Battlestar Galactica and The Last Starfighter, we know what it was
like to dream the impossible dream.

IMAX: Destiny In Space is a short (clocking in at around 40 minutes)
but interesting exploration into space travel and other such themes. IMAX:
Destiny In Space includes some interesting facts about space travel; for
instance, I never knew that plant life was grown on space shuttles for food, or
that bones and muscles must be exercised because there is no support for body
weight due to anti-gravity. While these things seem obvious once stated, it's
stuff that you don't necessarily think of until your faced with the problem.

IMAX: Destiny In Space is packed with all kinds of history and
information about different space explorations from all around the globe. If you
have a thirst for knowledge on space, NASA, or floating around in rooms without
gravity, then IMAX: Destiny In Space is going to be your cup of
radioactive Jupiter lava.

IMAX: Destiny In Space is presented in a standard full frame
presentation, which makes sense seeing as I don't know anyone who has an IMAX
screen hanging in their living room. The original film was exhibited on 70mm
film, so full frame was really the only way to go with this film. Overall the
picture looks very clean with no major defects present.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and sounds very good. Directional
effects are mainly used with music and background noises. While this is not a
hugely aggressive track, it is a very nice companion to the images in the film.
All aspects of the music, dialogue, and effects are distortion free.

Included on IMAX: Destiny In Space is a theatrical trailer for the
film, a trailer for IMAX itself, and a short behind-the-scenes featurette on the
making of IMAX: Destiny In Space (which includes interviews with some of
the filmmakers, NASA people, and footage of the IMAX cameras and equipment).

Closing Statement

IMAX: Destiny In Space is an enjoyable film for the astronaut in all
of us. Kids will especially like this feature, and will probably be willing to
watch it again and again (hey it's better than "Barney," right?).
While I'm sure this film is much more thrilling on the towering IMAX screen,
IMAX: Destiny In Space is still a lot of fun...and educational to
boot!

The Verdict

IMAX: Destiny In Space is free to go, as is Warner for doing a decent
job on this disc.